And for a guy whose first name is Rocky, he softens up a bit when speaking about ‘Jazzy.’

“Jaslyn was born missing half her brain, the part that controls her motor skills.

“So it’s like she’s paralyzed from the waist down. Ever since she’s been old enough to eat, we’ve been giving her drink out of a little eyedropper, and we used to put her food in a blender so she could swallow it down.

“Her little body was born deformed at the same time, and it was twisting on her.

Jazzy always loved her chocolate pudding. Only two times that girl would cry; when she was getting her hair brushed and when you run out of chocolate pudding.”

But because she needed to be fit enough for more surgeries, a feeding tube was inserted into her stomach.

“So, she lost her chocolate pudding.

“She’s had several operations, but Jazzy’s always smiling.

“She’s a very happy little baby. We’ve come to know that Jazzy has a very high spirit.

“As a matter of fact, I asked the doctor when he gave her the anaesthesia if he had a hard time putting her out.

“He said, ‘Yea, she doesn’t want to go out. She’s a fighter.’

And, to make matters worse, a week after getting her casts taken off due to another surgery, she and her mother and brother got into a car wreck.

“She flipped the car five times.

“There were several men that stopped and had to pick the car up to get Jaslyn out of it.

“They halo flighted her over to Driscoll Children’s Hospital, and she came out the next day with one leg in a cast, one arm in a cast just smiling away.”

And Portell smiles every time he speaks of ‘Jazzy.’

He has hope in every syllable he speaks.

And in every bag of jerky he sells.

It looks as if being tough runs in the family.

Portell’s kicking his smoking habit (3 weeks so far), and on July 4, he’ll be 22 years sober.

“I told my daughter one day, ‘I know you wonder why God made Jaslyn this way. I know you’re mad at Him, but you’re backwards on this issue.

“Let me tell you something about Jaslyn; she has power you can never dream of having.

“You know when you’re alone with her in her room at night and you look over at her, you’re so mad at God for it.

“That’s God showing how much love he has for you.

“And only through Jaslyn can we learn this.

“And we’re learning about the love God has for us everyday.”

Rocky Portell’s Jerky Hut can be found this weekend on the corner of FM 351 and FM 673.

Paul Gonzales is the entertainment writer at the Bee-Picayune and can be reached at 358-2550, ext. 116, or at thescene@mySouTex.com.